Embodiments of the inventive subject matter generally relate to the field of power systems, and, more particularly, to controlling a fault-tolerant array of converters in a high availability system.
High availability power systems for microprocessors include components for power conversion, controls, diagnostics and communication in a single package which can be utilized in a redundant arrangement. However, to attain high availability, a redundant control and monitoring system is also utilized to monitor status, provide communication between various elements of the power system, and detect failures for maintenance purposes. Conventional systems utilize extra phase regulators (e.g., buck regulators) to implement redundancy at phase level in a multi-phase regulator arrangement. A phase regulator is isolated from other phases using protection circuitry. On failure of a certain phase regulator, one of the extra phase regulators serves the role of the failed phase regulator.